As I write this I’m finishing up my research trip to the Allen County Public Library (ACPL). Last year I wrote about the Genealogy Center at ACPL and everything it has to offer researchers. This year I returned to continue my research.

For some of the researchers here, this is the first time they have used a library for genealogy research. I imagine that can be intimidating. A new researcher has to consider what their research question is, what they want to find, and what to bring. When I research away from home, I have a bag that has, what are for me, “research essentials.”

What’s In My Research Bag?

Everyone is different, that’s a given. So it makes sense that some research “essentials” will be the same for most genealogists and others are more personal preferences. One thing to consider about your research bag is weight. What I take is influenced by what I can comfortably carry, especially if I have to walk a few blocks to the library. You may have some mobility issues that make a roller bag a better option.

What are My Research Essentials?

For me they include:

Office-type Supplies

• Computer
• Cell phone
• Flash drive
• Blank notebook (or two)
• Pens, pencils, highlighters
• Post-it notes or post-it tabs

Personal Needs

• Water
• Snack (remember you can’t eat in the library)
• Cough drop
• Aspirin
• Eye-drops
• Face mask (some libraries or repositories may require it)

What you want to pack may differ. To me, these are all essentials. Notice I didn’t discuss your genealogy research materials like charts or reports. It’s easier if you have your research in a software program on your computer or an online tree so that you can refer to it. A mobile app with an online tree makes it easier to take your research wherever you go. 

You need to think not just about research but also about what you need to be comfortable. And speaking of comfort, I always bring a sweater with me because it’s not uncommon for the library to be a little colder than you want. And nothing makes a research trip more miserable than being cold. 

So once you consider what to take, make sure that you also consider what NOT to take. My suggestions include:

• Any drink that is not water
• Your original documents/records
• Valuables
• Anything you absolutely don’t need

Once again, that list will be different for you and your research needs.

Ready to Research?

Researching away from home requires being prepared. Part of that preparation is your research question and plan but you also need to prepare for your time in the library. Start putting together a research bag now so that you’re ready to research when given the opportunity.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

The recording of today's webinar, "Organizing and Tagging Photos with the MyHeritage Mobile App" by Uri Gonen is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free.

 

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Uri Gonen has been working at MyHeritage since 2005 where he took on different challenges and roles in product development and product management. He has been part of the wild journey of MyHeritage from a small startup to a dominant company in the genealogy space. Among his involvement in key projects of the company, Uri was the original developer behind Family Tree Builder, and the product manager of MyHeritage’s genealogy search engine. Recently, Uri was involved in several genealogical projects such as PedigreeMap, Pedigree View, Tree Consistency Checker and several integrations with FamilySearch. Before joining MyHeritage, Uri has worked in other software startups in Israel, the United States and Canada. He now lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

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A frequent topic of conversation this summer is the weather. England is experiencing record-breaking temperatures. Heat-related fires are active in Europe. The temperature is in the three digits where I live, and you can believe me when I say I'm extremely thankful to live in a home with air conditioning.

The summer heat has me thinking about our ancestors who didn't have modern-day comforts. My paternal grandparents moved from Los Angeles County, California to a desert city near Palm Springs in the 1950s and didn't have air conditioning. My grandfather worked for the railroad. The railroad company, realizing the difficulty their employees would have getting any sleep in the heat, made available special sleeping containers dubbed "submarines." These were "a one-room dwelling made for sleeping. Wooden frame structures were covered with sheets of galvanized iron and then overlaid with burlap. Water was piped to the roof where it trickled onto the burlap and flowed down the sides, cooling the metal and cooling the interior by 15 to 20 degrees." [1]

How did the weather affect your ancestor? Did they work in extreme weather? Did they move because of their health and the impact of the weather?

Weather, hot or cold, in some cases, led to tragedies for our ancestors. Illness such as frostbite or heat stroke. Hurricanes or tornadoes could destroy your ancestor's homes or precipitate a move. 

Have you considered how the weather impacted your ancestral family? Historical weather information might be found in:

• Local Histories
• General Histories
• Weather websites
• Newspapers

Searching for information about the United States, the National Oceanic, and Atmospheric Administration hosts historical weather maps on their Central Library website that dates back to 1871. Maps may be downloaded as PDFs. The website says:

The U.S. Signal Office began publishing weather maps as the War Department Maps on 1 January 1871. When the meteorological activities of the Signal Corps were transferred to the newly-created Weather Bureau in 1891, the title of the weather map changed to the Department of Agriculture Weather Map. In 1913, the title became simply Daily Weather Map. In 1969, the Weather Bureau began publishing a weekly compilation of daily maps with the title Daily Weather Maps (Weekly series).

The earliest weather maps featured only a map of the continental U.S. with the day's air temperature, barometric pressure, wind velocity, and direction, and a general indication of the weather for various cities around the country plotted directly on the map.[2]

If you are researching a county outside of the United States, search the Internet for the name of the country and the phrase "weather map."

Googling the name of the state, province, or country you're researching with the word "weather" or "historical weather" may help you find websites and books. For example, the book The Pennsylvania Weather Book by Ben Gelber (Rutgers University Press, 2002) includes historical information on great storms and weather extremes for the state and individual cities. A more familiar book, The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin (Harper Perennial, 2005) traces five families who experienced a blizzard that killed 500 hundred people along the prairie.

Consult digitized books websites and periodical indexes for books and articles. Consider:

• Google Books
• Internet Archive
• Hathi Trust
• JSTOR

Everyday life and all that it brings negatively or positively impacted our ancestors' lives. The weather affected where they lived, worked, and their health. Look for weather data and reports in online resources and books to get an idea about your ancestor's everyday life.

[1] "History of the Coachella Valley," California State University, San Bernardino (https://www.csusb.edu/sites/default/files/Unit_3.3_History_of_CV_Curriculum_Guide.pdf: accessed 19 July 2022). Pg 80.

[2] "U.S. Daily Weather Maps," NOAA (https://library.noaa.gov/Collections/Digital-Collections/US-Daily-Weather-Maps: accessed 19 July 2022).

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

The recording of today's webinar by Jared Hodges, "One hour to master your camera settings" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

 

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Jared Hodges’ love for photography began in 1984 when his parents purchased his first camera out of a JC Penny’s catalog. During the last 30 years, capturing the important and beautiful things in life has been his passion. Jared has been published in many newspapers, magazines (including Sports Illustrated), and websites and knows what makes a great photograph. He has taught photography, graphic design, and publishing to high school students for the past fifteen years and has published five yearbooks as an adviser to the school’s yearbook program. He views every shoot as an opportunity to showcase the inherent light, beauty, and subtle humor in the world around us.

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

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The webinar will be live on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at:

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4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
6. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
7. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone. 

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The recording of tonight's webinar by the Board for Certification of Genealogists and Carolyn L. Whitton, CG, "Ancestor’s Religions in the U.S." by Carolyn L. Whitton, CG is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/bcg for free for a limited time.

 

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Carol Whitton, CG® specializes in German genealogical research. Currently she’s projects director, St. Louis Genealogical Society, and graduate of German Research SLIG, Gen-Fed, and VIGR.

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

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7. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone. 

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The recording of today's webinar, "Colonial Spanish & Mexican Censuses & Census Substitutes" by Henrietta Martinez Christmas is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Everyone knows how to conduct a Google search, right? I know I only use a fraction of what Google (or any other online tool or software) offers. I'm always looking for tips to help me make the most of this resource so I can do better searches. Here are three Google search features you may want to use for your next Google genealogy search.

#1 Using Google Internationally

One way to access a country's version of Google is to use the website for that country. When you go to Google to start a search, you are accessing the Google screen for your country based on your IP address. So I'm in the United States and use the U.S. version of Google. If I'm conducting research for an ancestor who lived in another country, I may miss out on results that I would receive if I were using that country's version of Google. So I'm using Google.com, but if I want to use Google for Canada, I could go to Google.ca.

Genealogy in Time Magazine has a list of the Google website URL's that you can use. Remember that for best results, you may need to search in the language used in that country.

#2 Learn More About that Source

So you've conducted a Google Search and have your results list.

For each result, you will see the URL, the name of the web page and/or website, and a description. You know that, but have you ever noticed three vertical dots to the right of the URL?

Click on these dots to reveal information about the website. In this example, I searched Edgar Allen Poe. One of the results is the Poetry Foundation. By clicking on the three vertical dots, I can view the "About this result" screen.

This feature might help you as you analyze the results you receive and decide to pursue any specific source.

Another example is the source information for the Wikipedia entry for Edgar Allen Poe. Once I click on the three vertical dots in my Google search I see this box.

I can then click on More about this Page which provides me even more information to consider using Wikipedia.

Play around with this feature and see how it might help you make the most of your results.

#3 Always Click on Books

In my opinion, this is a must. When you get your Google results, always click on Books at the top to see the results for Google Books.

You can then focus your search to narrow it to a time period or even look at historical newspaper results.

Don't forget that you can search Google for an ancestor's name but also consider searching by the place they lived, their religion, or the membership organization they belonged to. Google Books might have a city directory, a local history, or other historical works that can benefit your genealogy.

What Will You Search?

We all could benefit from changing our search habits and trying something new. Don't forget their is a benefit to playing around with your search by adding additional keywords or clicking on features you've never tried. You might be surprised at what new items you find.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.